Hmmm, this is weird. I KNOW I saw Penguin in a 4-pack at several KBs about 2 years ago just weeks before Big Lots and Family Dollar got him as a single. Who else was in the 4-pack you guys have? The ones I saw were Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl all in matching purplish outfits and of course the standard Penguin.

Okay, to set the record straight on what Hasbro made and what Mattel made, I present the following character lists, Please note, that these are sculpts based on The New Batman Adventures, anything else that appeared in Hasbro's lines were repainted Batman: The Animated Series sculpts. These are listed by how they were initially released.

The figures Mattel did release in their B:TAS two packs were not Hasbro's molds although they did buy molds from Hasbro.

What I meant about Mattel gettting those figures from Hssbro was that my understanding was that Hasbro's team had designed, sculpted and possibly already had the molds made but had never used those sculpts themselves and that Hasbro had sold those sculpts to Mattel when they had taken over the license. I know for certain that I've seen Hasbro catalog photos with really early versions of those two-packs most likely in Tomart's or Lee's magazines.

I rememer those prototypes, Jim. They surfaced in December 2002 at Diamond's Previews website, solicited by Mattel. They were clearly repainted Hasbro figures, but I don't believe the two-packs were developed by Hasbro. I think they were just product Mattel whipped up in a hurry to take advantage of their new license.

What's interesting is the Catwoman shown has never been released by Hasbro or Mattel. I don't know if it was created by repainting a figure from another line or what. Also, the Batman in the Nightwing and Batgirl two-packs ended up with a different paint scheme. Joker's paint scheme also changed, as he lost the stripes on the jacket.

I personally have all the BTAS and TNBA figs that I want. If this was the only way for others to get them--then by all means Mattel should reuse the molds (if they have access) since many of them are OK sculpts, and some (like Mr Freeze, and Man-Bat) are great. But if I had my druthers, it would be better if Mattel re-sculpted all of them to fit the JLU/DCAU look. Poison Ivy and Killer Crock in particular could do with an updated sculpt.

Hasbro put out a Mad Hatter under the TNBA banner but it was the old figure in a blue trenchcoat,not the smaller TNBA version in the green outfit, the 4pk with the purplish trio and TNBA Penguin in correct colors was a TRU exclusive, the box was square and came with holographic cards like the JLU 4pks. As long as were talking 4pks, Hasbro also put out the Girls of Gotham set with TNBA styled Ivy and Talia, BTAS Catwoman and a new version of Batgirl which doesn't look like any version on the shows, this is the one with her left hand on her hip.